There are quite a good variety of lumpia. There’s the Sahnghai style, one with crab and there is the vegetable kind. Instead of making a history about the lumpia, I’ll go straight to the recipe of the most popular kind of lumpia. I doubt anyone is interested with its history anyway. Perfect for parties and family meals.
Lumpia (shanghai-macao style)
Ingedients:
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
¼ pound shrimp (shelled, deveined and chopped)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
2 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder but I prefer 1 ½ cloves of finely minced garlic
2 tablespoons sugar (I prefer honey)
2 tablespoons salt
1 (16 ounce) package spring roll wrappers
1 1/2 quarts oil for frying
Directions:
1) In a large deep bowl, mix everything--combine the ground pork, beef, shrimp, onion and carrots. Don’t be shy to use your hands (plastic gloved if you want) but mixing everything thoroughly is a must. Knead the meat if necessary and gradually blend in the low-sodium soy sauce, Maggi, black pepper, minced garlic, honey and salt. Make certain it is even and that all ingredients are properly distributed.
2) Lay out the wrappers and put in about a 2-3 tablespoons of the filling but make sure that the filling is no thicker than a woman’s thumb (I have fat thumbs) or the wrapper may cook before the meat inside. Take them on the sides and fold them to the center like you were wrapping cigars. Not too tight but tight enough to hold the meat. Moisten the edge to seal the wrapping.
3) Heat the oil to medium in a deep fryer (if you’re using a frying pan, don’t totally immerse the lumpia rolls and turn it over once) Fry them 3-4 rolls at a time. Lumpias are cooked when they float on the surface and the wrapper is golden brown. Drain on paper towels, you may cut them in half if you prefer.
Tips: I usually do my seasoning by taste and not by measurements. I cook by instinct. I advise mixing the seasoning in a separate cup to test the taste before mixing it with the all the meat. My mom used to also add turnips that are pared and grated.
Great with steamed jasmine rice!
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
¼ tsp. salt
2/3 cup water
2 tsp soy sauce
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoon vinegar
2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 water
1 tsp cooking oil
In a porcelain or glass saucepan, combine all ingredients for sauce except cornstarch and oil and bring to a boil. Stir in cornstarch and cook until the mixture becomes thick and almost transparent about 2-3 minutes and stir in oil to bring in shine.
Sometimes I make veggie ones and put shredded carrot and taro in place of the meat!